Russia sets sights on inking delivery contract for S-400s with India in 2018

Russia hopes to ink a deal to deliver its S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to India in 2018, deputy head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Vladimir Drozhzhov told reporters at the ArmHiTec exhibition on Thursday.

"I hope so," he said in response to a question on whether this document will be signed this year.

In January, Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov said in an interview published on the Indian Defense News portal that negotiations for the contract entered the advanced stage and the parties were hammering out the technical details.

In October 2016, the states clinched an intergovernmental agreement on deliveries of these systems.